Shutter operator or worker.



No. 870,819. PATBNTED Nov. 12, 1907. A. DBL VALLE.

SHUTTER OPERATOR OR WORKER.

APPLIO'ATION PILEDMAY 13.1907.

' i l i 1 l 1HE Nakms PETERS cs..wl!mNa1oN. n. c.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEIoE.

ARMANDO DEL VALLE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHUTTER OPERATOR OR WORKER.

To all 'whom it may concern: V

Be itknown that l, ARMANDO DEL VALLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough and county of Queensfcity and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shutter Operators or Workers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to devices for opening and closing shutters, and comprises the hereinafter more particularly described construction, whereby the blinds may be `simultaneously opened or closed by a single turning of a handle and at the same time the blinds may be locked in any desired position.

My invention, an embodiment of which is shown in the accompanying drawings, comprises a long trough like frame, preferably of metal, adapted to retain the several working parts, and is of a size convenient to he placed beneath the sill of a window and inside the window. casing.` Within this frame are journaled three gears, two at the ends, adapted to revolve in horizontal planes, and a third gear located at the center in a plane at right angles to the first two. The centrally located gear is connected to the end gears by racks; and a handle is secured to the shaft of this gear whereby the gear may be revolved by which, by means of the racks a like revolution is transmitted to the end gears. The shafts of the end gears are extended at their upper ends beyond their journals and through holes in the window sill. The ends are then bent in the form of cranks and are fitted in slots formed in plates secured to the bottom of the blinds. As these end gears are made to turn by turningthe handle on the central shaft, the bent cranklike shafts also revolve at the same time forcing the blinds to turn upon their hinges.

Referring to the di'awings.-Figu1e l is an elevation of a part of a window showing my device in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is an elevation of a device embodying my invention. Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the line x-,xof Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an elevation of ythe frame with the working parts removed` Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of the handle for operating the shutter.

The frame A of my device while it may be made of any suitable material is preferably made of a stamping from sheet iron. lhe sides of the sheet are bent at right angles to the central portion, forming a back l and a top and bottom designated 2 and 3 respectively. The ends are left open. Previous to bending the sheet to form the frame the blank may be stamped, by a single stamping, with the necessary perfor-ations, lugs, guides, etc., which will later be described.

A centrally located plate 4 is interposed between the top `and bottom of the frame at ornear the edges and is secured thereto by means of lugs formed on the plate and fitted in corresponding holes in the frame. Other similar plates as 6 and 7 may be likewise secured to the frame and the frame strengthened thereby and Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led May 13,1907. Serial No. 373,203.

lare screwed to the bottom of the shutter.

Patented Novl 12, 1907.

made more rigid. These lugs may be made, as shown in the drawings, of sufficient length to bend over, thus making a tighter joint.

A shaft 9 is journalcd in bearings formed in the frame A and plate Ll and mounted thereon is a gear 1 0. At right angles to this shaft and near the ends of the frame are shafts l1 and l2, and upon these shafts are mounted the gears 13 and 14 respectively and secured thereto` by means of pins l5. lhe shafts 11 and l2 are extended beyond their upper bearings and are bent in a cranklike shape to form the arms 1G. The upwardly turned ends are fitted in the slots l7 formed in plates 18 which lhc shafts 11 and 12 are retained in place by means of washers S and pins 19.

The central gear is connected to the end gears by racks 20 and 21. The racks are provided with two sets of teeth at right angles to cach other, and are in mesh at their inner ends with the central gear, one on the top and the other on the bottom thereof, the other ends of the racks are in'mesh with the end gears. lhey are retained in place in the frame by means ol guides 22 formed on the frame by cutting through the frame at the desired places and turning the cut portions up, forming guides to retain the racks in alincincnt with the gears and permitting of a longitudinal reciprocating movement only.

The shaft 9 is extended some distance beyond its bearing formed in the frame A, and the end brought through a hole made in the window casing. Upon the part of this shaft extending into the room is loosely mounted a disk 23, and is screwed to the window casling, or better the frame A may be tapped and the screws passed through holes in the disk 23 and the casing and' then screwed into the frame as by means of screws 33. The disk 23 is provided with a plurality of circumferential holes 24. The end of the shaft 9 is made flat on opposite sides and the handle or crank 25 loosely pinned thereto by means of pin 26. The end of the handle pinned to the shaft is provided with a rectangular hole 27 of slightly greater length than the flattened parts of the shaft 9 on which it is mounted. This construction permits the handle to be slightly .tilted out and away from disk 23, as it is being revolved.

On the inner side of the handle is a pin 28 positioned to engage with the holes 24 in the disk 23. The amount that the handle may be tilted outwards depends upon the difference in sizes between the hole in the handle and the end of the shaft and is terminated when the end ofthe hole 27 strikes the shaft 9. The parts should be properly proportioned to allow sufficient outward swing to bring pin 28 clear of the holes 24; the handle may then be turned in either direction to the desired amount and then pushed in again toward the disk until the pin 28 enters the hole in the 4disk which chances to be opposite it and the shaft again locked.

The extreme end of the shaft is further provided with a screw threaded hole and a stiff spring plate 29 is screwed to the end thereof and against the handle 25 by means of a large headed screw 29'.

In most instances it is necessary to have the end gears as near the outer wall as possible to allow their shafts to extend from the sill directly beneath the shutters. To save space therefore l have arranged the racks on the inner side of the gears, and to that end l have shown the back plate l, containing the racks, as next to the inner wall. As the end shafts should be arranged in place after the device is installed, 1 have shown perforations 30 in the frame l facilitating the pinning of the gears to the shafts. The frame is also cut or stamped and the cut portions bent out forming lugs 3l and the lugs are provided with holes. These lugs are for securing the device in place in the window casing.

The operation of 4my device is as follows z-The frame is secured in proper position within the window casing beneath the sill by means of the lugs 31. The shafts l] and 12 are then passed down holes in the window sill and through their respective bearings in the frame. The gears are at the same time pinned to the shafts and to facilitate this holes 30 are provided in the frame; the shafts are then secured in position by pins 19 and the plates 1S screwed to the bottom of the shutter, the ends of the shafts being placed into the slots 17. 1 have shown these plates at the bottom of the shutters and the shafts ll and 12 immediately below them; when, however, the shutter lits snugly to the bottom of the sill this would necessitate cutting a portion of the shutter away, and if. thisis not desirable the shaft may extend through the window sill a little further in, and a slotted fixture secured to the inside of the shutter instead of at the bottom. When the device has been properly secured in place the board of the window casing is replaced. The shaft 9 passes through a hole provided in this board and the disk 23 is screwed in place by means of screws 33 and the handle 25 and spring 29 secured to the shaft by pin 26 and screw 29L respectively. To operate the device the handle`25 is pulled forward freeing the pin 2S from engagement with the holes in disk 23 and leaving the handle free to be turned in yeither direction. By turning the handle the gear 10 keyed to the same shaft is revolved, and drives the racks in mesh respectively above and below the gear in opposite directions which in turn revolve the gears 13 and 14 and the shafts to which they are respectively keyed in opposite directions which operate to open and close the shutters. By such a constructionthe blinds may be closed or opened lock the blinds in the position desired.

lt is comparatively easy to move an ordinary blind about its hinges and to hold it in any required position except at times when a strong wind is blowing when it requires quite some force to move the shutters and to hold them in the required position, especially in an intermediate position, (that is partly closed) a position that is often desired to shade the room and at the same time to admit air` My device is especially adapted to meet these conditions. The slot in the plate 18 is practically the entire length of the bottom of the shutter. This permitsl the shaft turning the blind to be located at the greatest distance from the hinges of the blind. The blind and crank of the shaft (arm 16) therefore revolve about axes widely removed from each other which causes the angularity of the arm and the blind to change rapidly in the operation of opening or closing a blind, so that in any intermediate position the wind blowing upon the shutter is resisted most effectively by the arm of the shaft.

1n constructing the device the relative lengths of the crank arm (16) and the slot (17) and the relative positions of the hinges of the blind and the shaft must be properly proportioned to allow of a complete opening and closing of the shutters.

l claim l, A device for operating shutters comprising a centrally located vertical gear; two horizontal end gears, two racks for transmitting` motion from the central gear to'the end gears one of said racks being in mesh on the top and the other on the bottom of the central gear, a handle secured to the shaft of the central gear, crank like ends on the shafts of the end gears and slotted plates to retain the ends of said shafts. l

2. A deiice for operating shutterscomprising a frame, a horizontal shaft centrally located in the frame, a gear mounted on the shaft, a handle pivoted on the end of the shaft, a pin en the inside of the handle and a disk behind ARMANDO DEL VALLE.

Witnesses NIcHoms IImM, (J1-mamas Durrz. 

